Okay, so I'm shocked. How can a bloke from the USA make a
handful of short films 'Italian Style' and almost out Italian
the Italians? In fact, how can his films feel so Euro
altogether? I felt as if I was watching some late Â80s Fulci,
the tranquil beauty of Jean Rollin at his peak, and even a slice
of Paul Naschy.

It's the style of the cameras, the dress
sense, the lighting, and above all, the Italian music (Fabio
Frizzi). To add to such authentic camouflage, we are treated in
both of these shorts to the voices of Italian actor, Franco
Garofalo, the legend I interviewed not so long ago (follow this
link)
and little Freudstein herself, Silvia Collatini! I suppose none
of this would matter if it wasn't the fact that director Chris
Milewski is a fanboy frikkin genius! His adoration of the
classic genre really shows and he needs to be noticed soon, or
at least be able to release most of his films on a compendium
DVD for a wider audience, under all of his different names which
are made to read as Italian on the credits. Awesome. The
letterings are brilliant as well; they are made to look like old
Italian Â80s!

Violets Bloom at an Empty Grave, like a majority of his
works, has a dreamlike quality, aided by blue tones and a
soundtrack by the great, Fabio (Zombie Flesh Eaters,
The Psychic, Blastfighter) Frizzi as heavy
atmospheric scenes of an aged cemetery are shown to us. Then
we're on to a girl, Karen, looking like she stepped straight out
of the seventies and she's departing a train. A catchy tune
plays: ÂTime, is a very strange fellow. You feel you're the
boss, but he's always your masterÂ Â and so on. Inspired by
Ray Davies and his masterpiece, Return to Waterloo?
(review here)
That's a long shot, however it feels almost identical in
presentation. It would be nice if that had acted as a seed.

Onwards, she strolls as the wind blows. She crosses the
graveyard and pauses upon seeing something in the grass.
Whatever it is, we see soon she has one as well. Arriving at a
large ominous old house, she reads a letter from her brother,
Peter. We hear his voice (Franco) narrating the contents as he
welcomes her home and stresses how much he has missed her.

The edifice is a mass of traditional old house contents, stuffed
animals and creepy paintings, the standard stuff. Resting, she
hears Peter's voice from afar so she goes to investigate. Karen
hallucinates attack via stuffed bird and injury. Seeing
something is missing, she heads off into the graveyard to face
her truths and the nifty, but not too unexpected twist
conclusion.

The World of Shadows
is shorter but does not suffer for it. This time we have a neat
harmonica to introduce us as the man himself, Chris Milewski,
sits at a table reading a contract. Once again, Franco is on
hand to narrate his thoughts. He lives in a funeral home, and
nearby is the template cemetery. As the music pulses electronic,
and the voice becomes rather distressed, he says; ÂWhat's
this? This is not what I wanted! Why have I been condemned to
this existence?Â The man curses what he has become and
decided something needs to be changed...

Two doomed souls in two low key haunting short films whom both
share a similar fate to each other. As basic as The World of
Shadows appears, if you like the world of movies Chris is
imitating, that is the one which will stay with you longer after
the credits.

For all the names in the credits, a majority of personnel are
but one man, Chris Milewski. I don't think I've ever reviewed
anything in my life and used one fella's name so much within!
Who? Chris Milewski. I can chant his title like a mantra
now!

I've watched all of Chris Milewski's (!!!!) short movies, under
all of his pseudonyms, and the others range from the quirky and
simple, The Ghosts of Eden Hall, to the weird
experimental Marmite, Help Me Have No Human Ways &
Welcome to the World Dear Child. (Hi, Mr. Camera Man
in the bauble ala, The Cold Eyes of Death). I chose these
two because, in my humble opinion, they, along with, The Cold
Eyes of Death, are Chris Milewski's cream of the crop and a
great place to begin the excursion. All are available in crispy
quality on YouTube.